Pediatric Residency Coordinator

Electives and Special Programs

As part of the Pediatric Residency Program at Goryeb Children’s Hospital’s core curriculum, all residents gain subspecialty experience in child development, adolescent medicine and eating disorders, neurology, gastroenterology, hematology-oncology, infectious disease, pediatric surgery, cardiology, pulmonology and endocrinology. This allows our residents to choose experiences that are true electives, such as integrative medicine, child abuse and neglect training, or global health, as well as other subspecialties such as genetics, allergy-immunology or organ transplantation.

Community and Advocacy

Faculty Supervisor: Brian Lurie, MD, MPH At each level of training, residents will participate in varying community pediatric activities during their Ambulatory/Community rotation. The goal of this rotation is to gain the knowledge and skill sets necessary to form appropriate partnerships and become advocates to improve the health status of children and adolescents in the surrounding communities. Through didactic and experiential activities, residents will gain the perspective that expands a pediatrician’s focus from one child to all children in the community. Pediatric residents will be provided with the tools and knowledge necessary to become professionals committed to advocacy, collaboration, dissemination of information, education, innovation and leadership within the communities in which they work.

During this rotation, residents will have the opportunity to spend time with Early Intervention, Planned Parenthood, Medicaid and the Department of Youth and Family Services, as well as other community sites. All residents will also be required to participate in an ongoing community/advocacy project. Previous projects have included:

the Reach Out and Read Program at the HealthStart continuity clinic

a family enrichment program at the Family Health Center continuity clinic

a state-wide health literacy program in conjunction with the New Jersey chapter of the AAP

the New Jersey Newborn Screening Program for families and physicians with the New Jersey Department of Health

Research, Scholarly Activity and Goryeb Academic Pediatric Support

Faculty Supervisor: Maria Perez, DOAll residents are required to participate in a longitudinal research/scholarly activity. Over the years, these activities have included clinical research, quality improvement research and curriculum development. To foster a great academic environment, the Goryeb Academic Pediatric Support committee (GAPS) was created. GAPS links each resident with a faculty research mentor to help focus the resident’s interests and navigate the proper channels toward a successful research project, with the goal that they will be available for presentation at Atlantic Health System’s Annual Research Day in June. In addition to the mentor program, GAPS provides monthly lectures on research and scholarly activity, including project design, critical appraisal of medical literature and ethics in research and quality improvement. Funds are available to allow residents to attend national and regional meetings if their work is accepted for presentation. In addition, Atlantic Health System sponsors a quarterly research lecture series as part of a comprehensive research curriculum.

Goryeb Children’s Hospital faculty members are very prolific in their scholarly activities, with approximately 50 publications, presentations, posters, chapters, monographs and online educational programs per year. In addition to the resources at Atlantic Health System, residents can access research resources at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.

Pediatric Palliative Care

Faculty Supervisor: Sheryl Vassallo, MD Pediatric palliative care affirms life by supporting the child’s and family’s goals for the future and hopes for cure or life prolongation. This type of care neither hastens nor postpones death; instead, it aims to guide and assist the child and family in making decisions that enable them to work towards their goals during whatever time they have.

At Goryeb Children's Hospital, we have developed a pediatric palliative care consultation service. Our faculty supervisors have worked to identify and support children with complex medical needs. With the generous support of the Liam’s Room Foundation, they have advanced their expertise in this field though the Harvard Medical School Program in Palliative Care Education and Practice. Our services in pediatric palliative care span Goryeb Children’s Hospital at Morristown Medical Center as well as Goryeb Children’s Center at Overlook Medical Center, Liam’s Room, our state-of-the-art comprehensive care rooms are designed to provide an increased level of support and comfort to children with complex medical and life-limiting conditions and their families. Residents rotating through the pediatric units will have exposure to pediatric palliative care on an ongoing basis, while managing patients in Liam’s Room as well as throughout the hospital. They will receive didactic lectures about palliative care throughout the year.

Breaking Bad News

Faculty Supervisors: Mary Ann LoFrumento, MD This special project was created to enhance residents' skill in communicating bad news to parents in challenging situations. Using improvisational actors in lieu of patients, the residents are videotaped in a simulated case scenario and evaluated by a team of physicians who work in palliative care, oncology, intensive care and neonatology. The resident receives immediate feedback from the faculty as they review the videotape. A series of didactic lectures devoted to communication skills in challenging situations further enhances the learning experience.

Adolescent Medicine

Faculty Supervisors: Leslie Sanders, MD, and Jill Clark-Hamilton, MD During the first-year adolescent medicine rotation, residents will have the opportunity to observe several services within Goryeb Children's Hospital and the community that cater to the various needs of the adolescent population. Residents will observe the Eating Disorders Program at Goryeb Children's Hospital, which offers care in both inpatient and outpatient settings through education and treatment for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related disorders. The Eating Disorders Program is the only multidisciplinary program in New Jersey exclusively for children and adolescents and provides a unique learning experience for residents. During their rotation, residents will also be called upon to research and answer many intriguing questions from Goryeb Children's Hospital’s pioneering and award-winning website, www.TeenHealthFX.com. This highly regarded website has helped more than two million teens with their health issues and questions.